Sens. Jeff Flake and John McCain on Tuesday criticized President Barack Obama for allowing Syria time to prepare for a U.S. attack as his administration seeks congressional approval for the military action.

During a more than three-hour hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the two Arizona Republicans questioned Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel about plans for the military strike proposed Saturday by Obama. Flake and McCain both sit on the panel, which has primary jurisdiction over the resolution authorizing the use of military force sought by the president.

Flake noted that Obama did not seek congressional approval before taking military action in Libya in 2011 and, given the evidence that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government has used chemical weapons against its own people, could have struck already in Syria, too.

Flake said Obama maintains he has the authority to take action against Syria with or without Congress and delaying an attack gives the Assad regime precious time to prepare.

“I think one would have to suspend disbelief to assume that we wouldn’t be better off attacking those targets right now, or a week ago, than waiting three weeks for Congress to take action,” Flake told Kerry.

Kerry responded that he “would far rather be playing our hand than his (Assad’s) at this point in time.”

U.S. military leaders have assured Obama that pausing while Congress debates the issue would not hurt the mission of degrading Assad’s chemical-weapons capabilities and could offer some advantages, such as giving Obama more time to explain the situation to the American public and work with international allies. He said the United States can adjust its military tactics to match any moves that Assad might make in the meantime.

“I think the president made a courageous decision to take the time to build the strength that makes America stronger by acting in unity with the United States Congress,” Kerry said.

In a more personal response to Flake, Kerry cited the Constitution, which in Article I gives Congress the power to declare war.

“It’s somewhat surprising to me that a member of Congress, particularly one on the Foreign Relations Committee, is going to question the president fulfilling the vision of the Founding Fathers when they wrote the Constitution and divided power in foreign policy, to have the president come here and honor the original intent of the Founding Fathers in ways that do not do anything to detract from the mission itself,” Kerry told Flake.

Later in the hearing, McCain revisited the impact of the delay, mentioning a news report that said the Syrians already are hiding weapons and moving troops.

“When you tell the enemy you’re going to attack them, they’re obviously going to disperse and try to make it harder,” McCain told Kerry. “... It’s ridiculous to think that it’s not wise from a pure military standpoint not to warn the enemy that you’re going to attack.”

In an interview with The Arizona Republic after the hearing, Flake said he doesn’t buy the argument that Obama is following the Constitution, because he didn’t seek Congress’ approval prior to intervening in Libya. While the Syrians may not be able to move airfields and other fixed installations, they have time to take other steps such as redeploying assets into civilian neighborhoods, Flake said.

Overall, though, Flake said he agreed that the United States could lose credibility if it doesn’t back up Obama’s vow to respond to Assad’s crossing of the “red line” by using chemical weapons.

“Having said that, you can lose more credibility with a poorly structured response,” he said.

The hearing did yield one light moment: A Washington Post photographer captured an image of McCain playing poker on his iPhone during the Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

McCain later came clean on Twitter.

He tweeted: “Scandal! Caught playing iPhone game at 3+ hour Senate hearing — worst of all I lost!”

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